It was 20 years ago today that Woodstock ’94 took place, and had many convinced (thourgh the sheer amount of destruction and violence it yielded) that the 90’s were a musical and cultural hellscape. No, so many find themselves sedated by pop radio and PC blandness their desperate for a little action and excitement, some gritty festival fights and blaring instruments (how else do you explain The Gathering of the Juggalos?). Well, fear not, dear reader. There’s so many artists outside the mainstream with pulse-pounding beats to get you through your week, so plug into this week’s headphones and listen up.
Album: Lead to Light by Nico Vega
While many only discovered Nico Vega when their track “Beasts” became the unofficial theme song ofBioshock Infinite (after appearing in what might be the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLHW78X1XeE" target="_blank">most tantalizing video game advertisement of all time), I had caught them around 5 years ago, mid-tour, opening for Semi Precious Weapons (the glam rock revivalists best known for opening most of Lady Gaga’s tour stops). While there were other bands on the bill, I was enraptured by the extraordinary vocals of Aja Volkman, the band’s lead singer, as she bounced around the stage barefoot, howling out hard rocking tracks like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOkKufaZ84s" target="_blank">“Gravity” andhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVD_y43bKfY" target="_blank">“Burn Burn”. Her impressive vocal wails and electrifying stage antics led me to follow the band up until now, a great deal of success and one marriage to Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds later, when Nico Vega has released their newest album, Lead to Light.
The first four tracks play fairly mainstream, like the usual indie-pop radio fun, and its certainly not a labor to listen to. But where was the intense shrieks that had so struck me in the Bowery Ballroom that night? It wasn’t until https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9AjsA-w48Y" target="_blank">“Fury Oh Fury” (the must-download track off of the album) that it seemed the old Nico Vega came back with a passion. Here where the pounding drums, the intense guitars and the guttural yawls that I was waiting for. Following that was a brilliantly delivered cover of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSNHCdSR6tc" target="_blank">“(Bang Bang) My Baby Shot Me Down”, which had been used to advertise the A&E Bonnie & Clyde miniseries. All my hope was raised, but then the album switchs over to about as tedious and simplistic an indie-band knock off as possible with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcbJTfReyhc" target="_blank">“I’m On Fire”, as though they were attempting to parody an Arcade Fire-esque “chant-centric” hipster group. Though there are highlights, like the much appreciated somber ballad for Aja entitled https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlI21kAdNMk" target="_blank">“Good”, the rest of the album never reaches the heights of the band’s past work. For those who’ve never experienced Nico Vega, the album is well worth a listen, as it will ease the listener into the sonic fire the band can be live, but for those of us who already know, it’s a step down form their self-titled debut. After all, calling a track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeUK1odMtSY" target="_blank">“Protest Song” promises much more intensity and brutal wailing than we got.
Single: “The Negative One” by Slipknot
The Clinton era was a dark time for heavy metal fans. Metallica was in its post-Black Album downward spiral, Guns N’ Roses were splitting up, and Ozzy was a few years shy of becoming a reality TV star. If young men didn’t want to get their rage out with the techno-infused Nine Inch Nails or the androgynous antics of Marilyn Manson, they were forced to seek out a budding new genre which blended metal, grunge, rap and suburban white kid angst called nu-metal. Not to generalize, but if you came of age unpopular in the time of Tom Green and VHS, odds are there’s a t-shirt (black, naturally) of Korn, System of a Down, Slipknot or even…yes…Limp Bizkit. While most of these bands have just become dated references in South Park episodes, every once and a while Slipknot bubbles up to the surface and puts out a track that makes us question whether or not we should be ashamed of our past brace-faced taste.
With a pounding intensity and a driving beat, “The Negative One” doesn’t contain the high points of a single like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrO83v6X8lI" target="_blank">“Psychosocial”, but nor does it have it’s insipid titular guttural grunt, so it balances out into your average thrashy, angsty metal single. Even with a line-up change after the death of Paul Gray, Slipknot appears to have stayed tonally consistent with what they’ve been producing since ’96, and while that’s never been enough to consider them classic, Linkin Park has proved that sometimes a sonic evolution can be a career-killer, so perhaps, in the privacy of your own home, when no one is looking, its time to dust off the old Liquid Television tapes, blast this track, and indulge your inner youth one more time.
Music Videos:
Electronic: “Blue Sky Action” by Above & Beyond feat. Alex Vargas
Couldn’t get enough of that new Mad Max footage? Above & Beyond crafted this visually stunning steampunk dystopia so sci-fi you’re just waiting for Tank Girl to pop up.
Hip-Hop: “Southside” by David Dallas feat. Sid Diamond & Mareko
David Dallas needed a visual pairing for his somber and tragic tribute to his titular locale, and while it doesn’t do the visual trickery of other rap videos (consisting entirely of slo-mo and tracking shots), it doesn’t need it. It brings to life the story of the song, and that’s all a video need do.
Pop: “Ultraviolence” by Lana Del Rey
It’s official. Lana Del Rey is a master of the music video. Every video she’s released for her two albums have been haunting and entrancing, and “Ultraviolence” is no exception, presenting us with a story half-told in grainy, Super-8 footage, as though to craft a new depths to the puzzle within the song rather than illuminate its meaning.
R&B: “Better Half” by Boyz II Men
When a band makes a “lyric video”, it’s typically just words on a screen, but leave it to contemporary R&B legends Boyz II Men to interweave a sweet, moving story into a promo most artists don’t even bother with. The boyz are back, and we’re glad to have them.
Rock: “High Class Woman” by Blues Pills
Complete with film grain and cheesy titles, this b-movie-esque tribute to the classic Taxi Driver perfectly fits the gritty kick of Blues Pills punk-infused rocker. Cinematically shot with loving recreations of iconic Scorsese shots, “High Class Woman” might be the best movie-tribute music video since the Foo Fighters tackledFalling Down.
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